The finger of blame will only point at you, Roberto

The trouble with accepting your share of the blame is there is always someone ready to serve you another helping. The problem with telling everyone it’s entirely your fault is they will believe it.

Roberto Mancini offered up a very public mea culpa this week. After a miserable night in Amsterdam, the Manchester City manager confessed the defeat against Ajax and the crumbling Champions League campaign were down to him.

'I take full responsibility,' he said. 'I didn’t prepare properly for the game'. This seemed a startling admission. At best, it sounded as if he was trying to draw the flak away from some dismal performances by key players. At worst, it made him sound distinctly unprofessional.

Only way is up: Mancini and Lescott in
training ahead of the weekend clash with Swansea

The blame game is certainly a dangerous business. Owen Coyle also said recently he took 'full responsibility' for Bolton Wanderers' woes - and was duly sacked. When boxer Amir Khan lost his fight to Danny Garcia, he declared: 'I'm taking the whole blame' - and promptly dumped his trainer Freddie Roach. So, as Oscar Wilde said, 'It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you place the blame.'

Mancini knew exactly where he wanted to dump his. He didn’t mean a word of the guilt trip and the ‘I Messed Up’ headlines belied his true feelings. These were laid bare by one pointed post-match remark. ‘I don’t know why Joleon Lescott doesn’t jump for the second goal,’ he said. ‘Blame me. I am the manager’.

That is Mancini saying: I am carrying the can for this squad’s inability to perform. And that uneasy resentment bubbled to the surface again in yesterday’s press conference.

Having heard Micah Richards express bewilderment at a late switch to employing three defenders against Ajax, Mancini responded: 'If you are a top player it is not important what system you use. If you don’t understand a system like that, you cannot play for a top team.’

It is a clear accusation that some of his players are too stupid to adapt to a different system during a match. He has a point, too. But whether the manager should be saying it out loud is another matter entirely.

This is where Mancini shoots himself in the foot. He says tactics don’t matter, but makes wholesale tactical changes. He says spirit is more important than ability in the Champions League, but then insists quality players are the key. He says the team should understand what he is being asked of them, but brings in a new defensive coach — Angelo Gregucci — who struggles to speak English.

It’s a muddle of emotional and tactical contradictions. Players always seize on any excuse for their failings. Not enough of them are personally accountable and the only time the buck stops with certain footballers is when it’s jammed into a pole dancer’s G-string.

But even so, Mancini cannot resist stirring up the tension in his dressing room. His touchline gesticulations and histrionics, slating the likes of Joe Hart for daring to express his disappointment after a match, the jokes about how Balotelli's psychiatrist needs two psychiatrists, the solemn pledges never to use Carlos Tevez again and subsequent U-turn, the public dressing downs for players he believes are under-performing — they all drive a wedge between him and the team.

Follow me: Mancini is battling to keep his sides European dream alive

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Let us not overstate the case. Some of the reports that a 'mutiny' is under way are exaggerated. Mancini has also won three trophies since he arrived at City and his club remain unbeaten in the Premier League this season, with an opportunity to make up ground this weekend with Chelsea hosting Manchester United.

But the fact the City boss still appears to find it difficult to communicate with his players, either because he doesn’t trust or like them, is an ongoing concern. It’s bearable if results are good.

But if it means his title defence starts slipping in the same direction as his Champions League campaign, everyone will know exactly where to point the finger of blame.

Wenger's fate to be third rate

Arsene Wenger said claiming fourth place in the Premier League is better than winning a domestic trophy such as the FA Cup or the League Cup.

He told a grumbling audience at Arsenal’s AGM: ‘For me there are five trophies, the first is to win the Premier League, the second is to win the Champions League, the third is to qualify for the Champions League, the fourth is to win the FA Cup and the fifth is to win the League Cup’.

Wenger would say that, of course, since Arsenal have won nothing since 2005. But he is also correct. While nobody has an open bus tour for finishing third or fourth, reaching the Champions League means a club can step through the red velvet rope and take up membership of football’s elite.

Same old Arsenal? Wenger has been forced to defend his position regarding what the club deem 'success'

Wenger added: 'If you want to attract the best players they do not ask, "Did you win the League Cup?" They ask, "Do you play in the Champions League?"

Again, very true. The trouble for Wenger is they usually follow this with another question a year or two later — ‘Can I leave now because I can earn more money elsewhere?’

Much as I admire him, until Wenger stops that exodus of his best talent third place remains his best bet.

God in your corner? You'll need Him!

Audley Harrison says God has told him to carry on fighting. This means God has a warped sense of humour. Or Audley is hearing voices after taking too many blows to the head.

Heskey cam a video nasty!

Therewas a startling new development in the world of television this week that had John Logie Baird turning over in his grave. To another channel.

For this was the week when ‘HeskeyCam’ was born, a TV option giving viewers the chance to exclusively watch Emile Heskey throughout an entire football match.

This may sound like a reason to emigrate. But, thankfully, this televisual trial is being inflicted on the people of Australia, where Heskey is currently playing for the Newcastle Jets.

‘Everything Heskey does on the pitch, you’ll see it first with HeskeyCam,’ declared Fox Sports. ‘One man, one camera, one hero.’ And one TV-induced coma, too, we thought.

Had there been a HeskeyCam channel in operation during his various stints at Liverpool, Birmingham, Wigan or Aston Villa, viewers would have been able to watch the striker scuff the ball wide, trip over his own legs on the edge of the box or slam a chance onto the bar from four yards, and not much else.

Extraordinary: Heskey has become an instant hero since arriving Down Under to play for Newcastle Jets

But compelling as bad television — or ITV as it’s otherwise known — can be, there is a limit. Throughout 18 seasons in English football, the striker claimed more than 10 league goals only once. In 62 England appearances, Heskey scored just seven times. That return is worse than Paraguay’s Jose Luis Chilavert, who could boast nine goals. And he was a goalkeeper.

So the HeskeyCam threatened to be as action-packed as a night staring at a lava lamp.

But something extraordinary has happened. Heskey is scoring goals. Not with his customary frequency on a par with total eclipses of the sun, but like a striker should. His HeskeyCam debut was distinguished by both goals in a 2-1 win for the Newcastle Jets over the immediately misnamed Melbourne Victory.

Heskey has already scored as many goals in Australia as he did in his two seasons at Aston Villa. Either he has been inspired by finding a channel dedicated to him, or the A League is a bit rubbish. Press the red button to select your option now.

Sky's zero credibility policy

Former glories: Julich has been sacked by Team Sky

Team Sky have begun enforcing their 'zero tolerance' policy on drugs by sacking coach Bobby Julich.

The American, a former team-mate of Lance Armstrong, admitted to doping in the late 1990s and has now been shown the door.

This is all well and good, but I continue to find it difficult to comprehend how all this information is completely new to Sky’s general manager Dave Brailsford. According to cycling insiders, there have long been rumours about Julich.

This is also the same Team Sky that
hired Geert Leinders, doctor for the Rabobank team when rider Michael
Rasmussen was banned for lying about his whereabouts to drug testers and
when Thomas Dekker tested positive for blood-boosting drug EPO.

Leinders left Sky last month, but
unless Brailsford stuffed his fingers in his ears and shouted ‘la-la-la’
at the top of his voice from the moment he took over, he must have
heard about his doctor’s questionable history before hiring him.

When
Sky came into the sport, they marketed themselves as totally clean, so
there is something uncomfortable about the fact that they are only now
showing ‘zero tolerance’.

I don't buy Daley's logic on drugs

Daley Thompson believes cycling should be dumped from the Olympics because it is infested with drugs and doping.

He said: 'There should be sanctions against cycling being a part of the next Olympic Games unless they put their house in order.'

It is a measure that might deliver the required shock effect. But I cannot recall our former double gold winning decathlete calling for such draconian action when athletics was at a low ebb. And what about other sports with a drugs problem. There’s also weightlifting. Shot put. Gymnastics. Wrestling…

Extend Thompson’s logic on Olympic bans further and we might be able to stage the 2016 Games in his back yard.